To the peat hill! To the kayak! Warning – this blog contains shorts and red shoes






On a night like this, one’s thoughts in Shetland turn, inevitably (and in our case with considerable guilt) to the peat hill. Three banks cut (not by us – our friend Lornie did the heavy tushker work), half-raised (by us, slowly) and drying out so fast in this weather that nearly everyone else has their peats bagged and home.

It’s back-breaking toil, with only a few minutes’ winter fuel in every single turf turned. But with the new Haas und Sohn stove, and the price of oil…we’re not alone in making a commitment to local carbon fuels this summer. And before you make accusations of profligate carbon abuse, remember this is (in Shetland’s case) a local (a mile away) fuel and in almost infinite supply if not extracted commercially.

So to the peat hill. Susan insisted that my shorts-and-red-All-Stars mid-life crisis get-up be recorded. Fashion statements are crucial on the hill. And then she went kayaking…

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3 responses to “To the peat hill! To the kayak! Warning – this blog contains shorts and red shoes”

  1. Single Track Avatar
    Single Track

    Thanks for the response Tom. Very interested in the "repair as you go" mentality. Sounds like good custodian-ship (is that even a word?)As you say, in Ireland it's a real mess. I remember heading through Connemara in the big yellow bus a couple of years back and seeing monster peat stack after monster peat stack, all cut and stakced far too uniformly to be hand cut. Though I must confess to purchasing the odd bale of compressed peat briquette in Strontian when we've run out of wood….

  2. Tom Morton Avatar
    Tom Morton

    That's entirely fair, Bryan. I did say 'almost' and qualified it by adding 'if not extracted commercially'. Clearly the supply of peat is NOT infinite, but I see it a bit like fishing – on a small, local level, if not sustainable, it does minimal damage. Especially using traditional techniques of replacing (forget the dialect name) the top-turf (graef?) and repairing the ground as you go. As factory trawlers do all the damage, commercial peat extraction as in Ireland is horrendous. There's a real hatred even of small-scale tractor-mounted peat cutting machines in some parts of Shetland. I think that's because there's a recognition of how necessary the careful use of resources is. Have to say, there is a hell of a lot of the stuff here…

  3. Single Track Avatar
    Single Track

    Forgive my ignorance Tom, how is the supply infinite or sustainable? Is the peat "laid down" at a relatively speedy rate in the Shetlandic climate? (sorry if that sounds cheeky, it's not meant to – there's often unwanted tone in emails/comments, I'm simply trying to understand how it works as I'm convinced peat MUST be better to use than the coal and oil)Phew.Cheers,Bryan

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